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PATRICK MARMION reviews Here We Are at the National Theatre: Top-notch cast... but Sondheim's send-off is flimsy and forgettable
The National Theatre has really pushed the boat out for the last show by the late god of musical theatre, Stephen Sondheim, but not even they can make this mongrel sing.
The posthumous production – which premiered in Manhattan’s Shed theatre in 2023 – stars Tony award-winner Jane Krakowski(30 Rock), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family) and leading British thesp Rory Kinnear in a top-notch cast of 17. Nothing sticks, and two-and-a-half hours proves a long haul without an engaging plot, characters we care about, memorable tunes, emotional depths, or pleasing lyrics (at one point ‘it’ is rhymed, audaciously, with... ‘it’). It’s very meta and complex — tricksy, even — as Crouch/the hypnotist directs the actor, feeding lines through their earphones, whispering in their ear or handing them a few pages of script to read, as well as breaking the fourth wall to address the audience.
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